Dark Descent
by ArisenMoon
Summary: A darkness rises from within the Imperium of Man itself. A darkness born in the fires of a civil war that turned brother against brother. The Void Wardens, descendants of the mighty Death Guard must rise to the challenge to cast back the darkness that has plagued their legacy for too long. Set in the Fulgrimian Heresy by Tanner151.


Allen was not a soldier. The lasgun in his hand did not feel right as he stared down at it, blinking away the endless downpour of rain that tried to blind and freeze him. It was large and bulky, and he had nearly dropped it a few times while he was trying to load it. The 'armor' he wore as well was similarly as unfamiliar to him. A simple leather chest piece had been given to him along with the lasgun, the quartermaster barely batting an eye as he moved on to the next person in line. Allen was no soldier, but even he knew he might as well be wearing nothing at all for the protection it would offer him.

He jumped slightly as the line officer began to shout new orders, his voice somehow echoing over the pouring rain as it pelted the small barricade Allen and thirty other conscripts held. Pushing himself to his feet, Allen leveled the lasgun over the top of the loading vehicle that had been turned over. The other members of the squad did likewise, though a few, the actual soldiers among them, gripped their weapons close to their chests and shoulders.

Allen looked away from the other doomed souls beside him to look out across the scene of pure destruction that dominated the horizon in every direction. In the far distance, the curtain wall that used to mark the outermost perimeter of hive city Orena. Smoke still billowed from the massive gaps that had been blown open in the once seemingly impenetrable barrier. The bodies of the soldiers Allen was expected to replace were still littered among the debris there.

Just behind the curtain wall were the smouldering ruins of hundreds of factories and hab blocks, some crushed by debris from when the wall was blown apart, and others lost during the ensuing battles as the enemy poured into Orena. Every once in a while Allen could see brief flashes of crimson light or small explosions, the only indication that anyone was still alive in the lost sections of the city.

Allen and his unit had been deployed on one of the primary roads leading up to the next level of the hive city, where what few survivors from the lower zones had been evacuated to. Allen himself had been a factory worker fleeing the carnage before he had been stopped at this checkpoint. He was bigger than many of the others in the group running with him, and he had been 'encouraged' to go to the nearest armory to arm himself.

Now, he stood on shaking legs as orders were shouted up and down the defensive line. The divide between different levels in the hive city were not marked by any significant landmarks, just one sloping road leading from one level to the next. The narrowest section of that road had been chosen to be turned into a chokepoint. It was the narrowest point simply because two hab blocs hung haphazardly over the top of the road, forcing anyone passing under them to move through a gap barely five meters across. Allen was manning one of over a dozen hastily constructed barricades in the chokepoint, each one with roughly the same number of men stationed on it. A few even had heavy weapons in their arsenal. A single heavy bolter on a large tripod was put towards the back and highest position of the defensive line, while three heavy stubbers were spread out to offer overlapping fields of fire.

It was a beautiful thought in theory, and against any other foe it might well have worked. But, given the threat they faced had broken through a wall over two hundred meters in height and covered with innumerable amounts of weapon emplacements, Allen had his doubts. These doubts had to be pushed aside however as even the roaring voices of the few remaining planetary defense force officers were drowned out. The pouring rain was silenced by the roar of voices and the slamming of armored feet that sent a shiver running down Allen's body that had nothing to do with the cold. A single word dominated all others as Allen closed one of his eyes, staring down the sights of the lasgun as he had seen a PDF soldier do. A single word drained the blood from everyone's face as the foe they had been fighting for so long charged up out of the darkness.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"

As the first orks came into view, Allen did not have to wait for the officers to order him to open fire. His terror took care of that for him. Up and down the defensive chokepoint, the conscripts and PDF soldiers opened fire, walls of crimson lasgun fire slamming into the front ranks of charging orks. Dozens of the xenos brutes were cut down in the opening seconds, their bodies barely touching the ground before more of their kind pushed forward. A moment later, the booming staccato of the heavy bolter and stubbers joined the fray. Orks exploded into clouds of blood and flesh as the heavy weaponry tore through their ranks, temporarily halting their ceaseless tide of advance.

Allen even felt a momentary pinprick of hope grow in his chest as he watched the orks begin to falter in their advance. That hope was quickly dashed however as a single ork shot over it's comrades and hurtled straight towards the heavy bolter. Allen only caught a brief glimpse of the ork, a massive brute with a rocket tied to his back. He wore a pair of goggles that looked so small on his massive face. The ork was waving a large axe in it's hand as it hurtled towards the heavy bolter position, intent to butcher everyone there. Before he could land however a single stray lasgun shot struck it's shoulder, sending him spinning out of control. Instead of landing on the ground, the ork crashed head first into the heavy bolter itself. A moment later, the rocket on it's back exploded, sending shrapnel carving through the defenders nearby.

The loss of the heavy bolter had an immediate effect on the battle. The orks began to advance once more, with more rocket equipped orks coming over the top of the rushing ground troops. Some of them actually landed among the defenders, their melee weapons cutting through those closest to them, whilst others crashed into the ground much like the first had, arguably doing more damage to the defenders in the process.

Located closer to the top of the defense line, Allen was able to watch as each barricade below his was overrun in a tide of green flesh. As Allen tried to desperately reload his lasgun, the man next to him dropped his own weapon and turned to run back up the street. His feet slipped on the wet pavement and he collapsed to the ground. A moment later, Allen was deafened and thrown back as an ork rocket warrior landed directly on the man's head.

Allen jerked backwards as warm blood splashed across his face, dropping his lasgun and flailing his arms as he fell to the ground. He was there barely a moment before he turned, rolling to the side screaming as the ork that had just killed Allen's squadmate turned and slashed into the ground where he had just been with his chainsword. Sparks flew through the air as Allen came to a halt, pushing himself to his feet and watching as the ork lost interest in him, instead turning to cut down a charging PDF officer.

For the briefest second Allen debated trying to fight, but common sense told him to run and save himself. Spinning on his heel, Allen had just enough time to take in the form of the ork behind him before the axe cut into his skull. Allen crumbled to the ground under the blow, the entire left side of his world vanishing as his left eye was obliterated from the blow.

Allen did not realize he was dead yet. Blood pooled from the gaping wound in his skull but he stubbornly clung to life, dragging himself across the ground as more and more orks poured over the barricade he had been guarding, cutting down the few defenders left. A triumphant cheer erupted from the assembled orks as they turned to continue their advance up the main road to the next level of the hive city. Allen dimly felt his limbs being crushed and broken as orks slammed into them in their rush to make it to the next defense point further up the road.

Their advance was cut short as objects began to slam into the road before their advance and among their ranks. Allen briefly thought they were more rocket orks, but this thought passed from his mind quickly as he lost the ability to think. His cold, unseeing eyes watched as the objects that slammed down among the orks burst open crushing orks left and right even as their cargo poured out. Giants in black and grey armor and wielding massive scythes cut their way through the confused orks. The moment a clearing had been secured, their armored giants formed a combat line. The orks, who had just begun to regroup from the sudden arrival of their new foe were suddenly faced with a barrage of bolter fire that tore through their ranks.

As the orks were thrown off balance once again, the dark armored giants rallied together and rushed down the hill to meet them, forming a spearhead that broke through the front ranks of the orks. They continued their advance for hundreds of meters down the hill, the bodies of hundreds of orks left in their wake before the xenos finally began to break and run. Only then did the warriors halt their charge, gripping their bloodied weapons and beginning to rapidly return up the hill.

Across the hive city, similar scenes were unfolding as thousands of the black and grey giants rampaged across Orena, butchering orks in their thousands in their sudden and blinding assault. Imperial defenders watched in fear and awe as their saviors spread out among their own forces, turning poorly built defenses into small fortresses even as more of their comrades descended from orbit.

While the orks heard nothing but bolter and destruction, the people of Orena heard a different message. One of salvation transmitted across every vox unit in the hive city.

"Citizens of the Imperium, stand fast. You do not fight alone any longer, for your cry for aid has been answered. Loyal citizens, stand firm and fight in the name of the Emperor. May the enemies of mankind beware, for the Void Wardens have come."

* * *

Hello everyone, brief little message here. This story is set in the Fulgrimian Heresy timeline written by Tanner151. If you have not read it I highly encourage you to go over there and read that, as it will explain a lot of what will be happening in this story. I hope you enjoyed this prologue, and please leave a review so I can move forward and make this story better for myself and for you. ArisenMoon signing off.


End file.
